Unsettled conditions

The transient cold snap through Friday and into Saturday quickly eases before another dramatic change in weather type brings milder and wetter conditions to the UK.

Met Office Chief Meteorologist Andy Page said: “From Saturday we are going to see a change in weather across the UK, with the northern and southern parts of Britain experiencing quite marked differences. The northern half of Britain will see strong winds and heavy rain, especially in parts of Western Scotland where a Yellow warning for rain will be in force for 48 hours from 6pm on Sunday evening.” The affected region over this period can expect to see 80-100 mm of rainfall to fall quite widely, with the potential for 150-250mm over the highest ground.

Andy Page added: “However, in sheltered central and southern parts of the UK, weather conditions will be much calmer with temperatures climbing in the March sunshine to highs into the low 20s, with the possibility of 24.0 C in southeast England by Tuesday.

The maximum temperature recorded in March is 25.6 C on 29 March 1968 at Mepal, in Cambridgeshire.

Week ahead

Nick Silkstone, a Deputy Chief Meteorologist covering the medium-range period, said: “From the middle of next week, once again, we expect to see a change in the weather. Although there are still some uncertainties in the outlook there are signs a high-pressure system could develop by the end of next week allowing cold air from the north to return across the UK bringing another dip in temperatures for Easter weekend and even a risk of some wintry showers in the northeast.”

Easter records

The coldest Easter weekend on record is 2013 when -12.5 C was recorded at Braemar in Aberdeenshire, Scotland (Easter Sunday). The deepest snow recorded on an Easter weekend was in 2010 when 36cm was measured at Strathdearn, Invernessshire, also in Scotland (Good Friday). While the wettest was in 1991 when 108.7mm of rainfall was recorded at Seatoller, in Cumbria (Easter Monday).

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